When anyone passes away without a will, their property passes to heirs via intestate succession. Simply put, if a person dies without a will, the state creates one. Intestate succession is intended to distribute a decedent’s assets in a manner reflecting how an average person would design an estate plan if they had hired an estate planning attorney in Tulsa OK. Even in cases where a person’s wishes are known, they should visit the website and consider hiring Matthew E Riggin PLLC for estate planning help.
The Uniform Probate Code of 1990
The Code is the basis for most jurisdictional laws, but these statutes can differ from the code and from one another. Under the Uniform Probate Code, a person’s closest relatives get their assets. Relatives eligible to receive assets include surviving spouses, children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Adopted and biological descendants are treated equally according to the law.
The Surviving Spouse’s Share
Under the Uniform Probate Code, surviving spouses can receive either the person’s entire estate or a significant portion of it. For instance:
A surviving spouse can get the entire estate after taxes and fees if the decedent is survived by the couple’s children.
Surviving spouses can get the entire estate if the person isn’t survived by parents and descendants.
If parents survive the decedent but descendants do not, the surviving spouse gets the first $200,000 of the estate plus three-quarters of anything over that amount.
Descendents’ Share
According to the Code, if the decedent is not survived by a spouse but is survived by descendants, those people would receive the net estate according to the right of representation.
Parents’ Share
Under the Code, if the decedent isn’t survived by descendants or a spouse, the entire estate goes to the person’s parents or, if one parent has died, to the surviving parent.
Other Relatives’ Share
The Code stipulates that the entire estate should go to the descendants of the decedent’s parents. If no siblings are present, the estate goes to the person’s grandparents or their descendants.
Net Estate
A net estate is what is left to distribute to the decedent’s heirs after family protections, taxes, debts, and fees for the estate planning attorney in Tulsa OK, are paid. Family protections include allowances and homestead exemptions.
